Two projects from BA (Hons) Graphic Design students at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) have been recognised at the international Creative Conscience Awards 2024.
Winning Bronze in the animation category was #CreativeFlame by Lettie Suen, Amoré van der Linde, Rosie Loraine, and Hal Rumney Hunt, now all in their third year at AUB. #CreativeFlame is a speculative hashtag campaign with SheSays, a global organisation that advocates for gender equality, specifically aimed at those working in the creative industry.
“Our team had explored various issues related to the sustainable development goals and landed on highlighting gender equality through shared experience,” explains Lettie. “We wanted to highlight the double standards that exist in the workplace, exploring the issues surrounding gender inequality in the creative industries.”
The motion graphic aimed to be a catalyst for conversations about gender disparity in the workplace, encouraging employees to share their personal experiences on social media. By confronting workplace cultures that are lagging behind in terms of gender equality, #CreativeFlame aimed to instigate meaningful conversation and drive actionable change, working collectively to close the gap and pave the way for a more equitable future.
“It was an intensive four weeks learning new skills in motion design – an area that was new to all of us,” Lettie continues. “Despite it being a real challenge, it was a great way to fully immerse ourselves in overcoming technical challenges and achieving an end product. I felt that this not only helped expand our design skills, but ability to collaborate, communicate and delegate – mirroring that of industry practice.”
Rosie adds, “One of the key takeaways from this project is the confidence we've gained in our ideas. It feels great to know we can develop an award-winning concept, especially one that addresses an important social issue. Beyond that, this project really improved our motion design skills, which is a great skill to have for the future.”
The #CreativeFlame team were “ecstatic” with the news of the award as Hal shares:
“None of us could have predicted a medal, especially given the whole team had no prior skills or experience in animation!
“The fact that we were able to pull off each stage of the production in such a short time frame, among so many other talented people, and procure such a positive result is a testament to our dedication and teamwork. Our ability to communicate, adapt and iterate drove the project to the finish line and gave us a result to remember and be proud of.”
Also recognised at the awards was How to ZZZ, which was Highly Commended in the Health, Wellbeing, and Disability category, created by Finlay Heanue, Oona McLeary, Cui Xuan Aw, and Millie Harvey.
This motion graphic video aims to increase awareness on the impact of insufficient sleep on students’ health and wellbeing, equipping students with the knowledge and resources to make positive changes to their sleep habits.
The then-second-year students learned some valuable animation skills during the project as Millie explains:
“We learned how to use Adobe After Effects, which we’d not used before. It was quite tricky at first but really fun once we got the hang of it.”
Finlay adds, “I really enjoyed learning how to animate and I think it’s one of my favourite skills now. I also made the soundtrack for the video, which was another first for me. I just used a keyboard and a friend of mine produced it properly with some music software.”
“It was very collaborative project actually,” Millie continues. “Not just the four of us, but Finlay’s music producing friend, another AUB student did the photography for us, and a journalism student at Bournemouth University did the voiceover. It was really great to all work together.”
Creative Conscience is a global not-for-profit organisation that believes creative thinking and innovation can make positive change. Its annual competition showcases work across the creative disciplines that aims to bring about change in the world through creative practice and provides the ideal platform for the next generation of positive changemakers to make their mark.
Alice Stevens, Senior Lecturer on BA (Hons) Graphic Design, comments, “We’re so proud of all these students. To be recognised at the Creative Conscience Awards for work produced in the second year of the course is really impressive.
“Both projects were great examples of students collaborating well together as they develop ideas, technical skills and storytelling ability in motion design and animation. We’re looking forward to seeing what projects they produce in their third year now!”
